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Benjamin Hochman: Wild found Kryptonite for Avs' young Superman

By Benjamin HochmanDenver Post

Posted:
04/25/2014 12:01:00 AM CDT

Updated:
04/25/2014 11:38:13 PM CDT

Wild defenseman Marco Scandella, right, lays a hit on Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon during the third period of Game 4 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series in St. Paul, Minn., Thursday, April 24, 2014. The Wild won 2-1. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)

At this point with Nathan MacKinnon, we expect Gretzk-ellence.

Seven points in his first two playoff games, this wasn't a boy, or even a man; this was Superman, exhilarating the Clark Kents in the press box.

But up in Minnesota against the Wild, whose jerseys could be described as "Kryptonite green," the Avalanche rookie was human and humbled. Upon telling an editor I'd write about the kid in advance of Saturday's Game 5, he wrote back: "Is MacKinnon still playing for Avs?"

OK, let's look at it this way: The Games 1-2 splurge and the Games 3-4 splat might both be outliers. We shouldn't expect more than, say, two points a game from him, and we shouldn't expect MacKinnon to be a non-factor, either. But in order for the Avs to win this thing -- be it Game 5 or this series -- MacKinnon must find ways to separate himself from the pack, and separate himself from Ryan Suter, the best defensive player in Minnesota since Jared Allen.

"He's a great player; he'll respond the right way," teammate Ryan O'Reilly told reporters Friday. "As a team, we all have to be better, not just him. He's probably one of the best rookies this league has seen in awhile, and he's going to be effective. He's going to use his speed and he's going to help us win these games."

Maybe coach Patrick Roy should consider centering MacKinnon on the second line? The coach has shown his knack for creativity and flexibility with lines -- as well as the ability to admit mistakes when something doesn't immediately work.

And this might sound like a little thing, but the home team has the advantage in regards to matching lines on the ice, something Roy masterfully utilized back in the glory days of, well, last week.

"There's no question on the road, there's matchups that we'd like to get and there's matchups that we won't be able to get," Wild coach Mike Yeo told reporters Friday. "The thing for me is the way that we've been playing. And if you look the last couple games, every opportunity we've had to get MacKinnon out there against (Erik) Haula, we've tried to do that.

"At the same time, there's been a lot of shifts where I've had Mikko (Koivu) or (Mikael) Granlund's line out there against them. ... And I really believe that regardless of who we're playing, we can have anybody go out there in that situation if our team is playing a certain way, because we don't defend as a one-man unit; we defend as a five-man unit."

OK, sure, but Suter smothers. This dude is dastardly. He's often on the ice against the kid, and Suter often picks him up high in the neutral zone. Suter set a tone early in the second period of Game 4 when MacKinnon, in his own zone, tried to bounce past Suter -- and bounce a pass off the wall -- but the Wild man decked MacKinnon like a strong safety.

"That's just good hockey," a mesmerized Peter McNab admitted on the Altitude TV broadcast.

MacKinnon's maddening mistakes in Game 4 were uncharacteristic, but plentiful. With 15 minutes left in the first period, aggressive Suter defending on the left wing forced a MacKinnon mishap. Later, the rookie made a slipshod backwards pass from the right wing, a turnover that nearly led to a goal. And early in the third, down 2-1 with time to turn the tide, MacKinnon couldn't control the puck on a power play, and a Minny man swooshed that thing down the ice ... a harbinger for another pathetic power play.

Again, most Colorado players looked bad as the Wild evened this series 2-2 with victories in Games 3-4. But the disparity between MacKinnon's first two games was glaring.

He must show the ability to thrive in tight space, to not get flustered, to play through pain in his foot and to seize rare moments to change the game. He can do it. We've seen it. Colorado doesn't necessarily need "The Great One," but it needs greatness from more than just its sweater No. 1.